Short and Sweet

Kiddo's are in the bedding snoozing away. Just completed a task that has been weighing on the brain. *YAY* Caleb has appt tomorrow for hopefully taking off his brace during the day *Double YAY*. Should I dare say things may be on the upswing?

One more thing, I want to just state again for the record that I am so blessed by God. I have been doing lots of deep thinking about the crucifixion of Jesus, and what a wonderful blessing God bestowed on us. How I am so blessed to be a child of the one and only King of Kings!

The Top 10

So, I saw this on a friend's blog. It's kinda fun

google this "your name needs". example "Mary needs" and see what you get. My friend's blog was too funny! Here are mine

The top 10:

1 - Mary needs prayers - *ok yes, I could always use them

2- Mary Needs to Feed the Sheep - *ha ha, i thought it was a lamb

3- Mary needs to be freed from all this - *uhmmmm, ok

4- mary-needs-a-break - *Calgon take me away!

5- Mary needs to balance her ‘big picture’ thinking - *not sure how to respond to this one

6- Mary needs to let go of the old and prepare for the new- *I am trying, geesh

7- Mary Needs a Little Consistency - *I'm a military wife, c'mon now

8- Mary's needs and try to find the best - *yes, this is something I should work on

9- Mary needs to have a baby! - *no thank you

10- Mary needs a glass of water- *i think a stiff drink would be more appropriate after #9

HAVE FUN!

Post Weekend Ramblings

Here is the latest pic of the boys. Aren't they cute! Caleb is almost overpowering Noah with his 16lbs being contained in a little round baby body. You can tell by Noah's expression that this was not his idea of fun. He was saying, "Moooooom, Caleb is heavy!" too cute.

We had a nice weekend, family came into town, I saw Pirates 3, and BBQ'd with friends. Can I just say that I love three day weekends. I am a stay at home mom, but knowing that a 3 day break is coming excites me. I get the chance to hang out with those friends that have 9-5 jobs and we get to just hang out. Most of us love to grill, so every chance we get we are firing it up and getting the gang together.

Pirates 3, hmmmmm, not a complete bust, but somewhat disappointed me. It had some great action sequences, but there were some things that struck me as w-e-i-r-d. I will not say them now, as some may not have seen the movie yet, but these things I thought were a waste of film and really had no purpose in the movie. I left the movie going, what was that all about? Anyway, it was just ok, and Johnny Depp is the only man I know that can wear heavy eyeliner and mascara and look good doing it. :)

It is becoming more and more real to me that we are moving. I reserved a mini-storage yesterday, and I was looking inside this empty space, which seemed small to me, and thinking that I am going to put our entire house in this? Soon, there will be no more chasing Noah through the house, or watching Caleb slide around on the wood floors. No more listening to Olley's nails click on the floor as she runs through the house as Noah is chasing her, no more stairs that make my knees ache, no more mole to hunt summer after summer, no more sand to sweep out of the garage after a day at the beach. Some of the weirdest things have been coming into my mind as these last 30 days dwindle. I scrapbooked last year's Christmas pictures. As I looked at the pics I realized that was our last Christmas morning in this house. The house where Noah had his first Christmas morning. The place where Caleb will never have a Christmas morning. It's just weird leaving your first real home, the home your parents did not establish, but you - the wife/parent helped establish. Sentimental stuff, I know. It's just sticks and nails, but there are so many memories of entertaining friends, watching babies crawl and walk, moments with Kevin on the back porch, the day we bought the house....so many things.

Complete FRUSTRATION

Can I just start by saying that selling a home is FRUSTRATING!!!!!!!!!! People are wanting things that seem to me to be absurd. For example, the mulch is too close to the vinyl siding, so they want it lower. So what have I been doing today? Raking back mulch. The flower beds look ridiculous, but this is what they want. Why is it when people want to buy a home they seem so caught up in minor details instead of the actual structural integrity of a home. The inspector noted that my house was, and I quote, "above average condition for its age." So what is the big deal if the mulch touches the vinyl. Me, thinking as a home buyer, I would not focus so much on if the trees need to be trimmed, but if the stupid house would stand up in a big wind storm, or if water is going to drip on my head if it rains.
My real estate agent has been totally on my side when it comes to dealing with these ridiculous buyers, except for today. Of the 12 items they want repaired, yes 12 ridiculous items, he wants me to do 10. FINE! I will go in my corner and pout today, cause I think I am being run over just a little bit.
I just got the estimate to do the work, and luckily it is going to be done by a friend. If it were not for him, I could possibly be out 7-8oo buckaroos, but I am paying a 1/4 of that. The previous is not my idea of selling a house and making some bank on the equity.
I wish Kevin were home. I need him to put some nails in some wood and say, "look, it's all good". I am a control freak and I do not like relying on people to do work that Kevin and I could do ourselves, together. This is when I become the angry air force wife, because this air force, that I completely support, has taken away something that is irreplaceable, and have done it at the worst possible time. And if that weren't enough, I have to pretend that everything is hunky dory on the homefront when Kevin calls, cause the last thing I want him to do is worry about me and the kids getting by. So, thank you mr. inventor of the blog, cause now all of you who are reading this get to bear my burdens, once again putting me in a precarious position of giving up control, by admitting that yes, this sucks (for lack of a better term) and no, I can't do it all on my own. I have got to get through this closing. And thank you military for blocking access to the blog site.
So, now that it is out, I am going to get my crying 4 mo. old and my stinky diaper 2yr old and go to lowe's so I can get materials, to get this house in the most pristine condition possible to satisfy the most absurd requests. And while I am there I might buy a nail gun and just shoot nails is the ground at the mole that refuses to leave the yard unless every last blade of grass is brown and dead. Maybe then will I feel better................

Maybe soon (as in 99 days) my posts will be lighter and not filled with so much whining, complaining, and doom. Till then I hope you can join and enjoy my gloom and doom party.

Whirlwind

rainbow row, charleston, sc

Where to begin, let's try last Thursday...

On the schedule:

-Home inspection 10:30am.

-Walking tour downtown

-See the Tall Ships

-Dinner with friends

What happened:

Doorbell rings at 8:30am, who could it be this early? Oh great, the home inspector arrives 2 hours early. Thank goodness I had on clothes and not my pj's. I give him the go ahead to start the inspection. I rush the kids and we leave around 9:30am. We pick up a friend and head downtown. Walking tour was so much fun and I learned a lot of stuff about the city. The Tall Ships were out sailing the seas, so we missed them and after the walking tour we were to tired to go back and try again. So, we go to the hibachi grill, stuff our faces, and head for home. My throat is starting to feel like someone took a blow torch to it. Not what I need right now, to be down and out with a cold. I arrive home. Boy, did my temper get the best of me. My house was left unlocked, not one door, but all three. There was trash left in my living room, and to really boil me over, one of the closet doors in my bedroom was broken. I got on the phone to my realtor and filled his ear with a very angry hoarse voice.

Friday, voice is completely gone. I can only whisper and boy does the 2.5 yr old take advantage of this. I can't even force out a sound of any kind except a very heavy whisper. Not working on the boy's ears. Thank God for good friends. One great friend relieves me of the oldest boy for a couple of hours while I try to whisper my anger to inspectors, realtors, and realtor assistants. Finally, some breakthrough. The inspector is coming on Sat. morn to fix the door, even though he expresses adamantly he did not do it, or note in his inspection that the door was difficult opening. I don't care fix my door!

Sunday. I am the walking dead. Voice has come back to an occasional crack now and then. Throat feels like some used a sander on it for about 3 hours. Once again, I must stress how great friends are. My great friend pulls through for me again, picks up boy #1, takes him to church for a couple of hours and I catch a few more zzzzzz's. I wake up and it is like a new day. God really knew what he was doing when he created sleep. I think we can all say that is one thing we can never get enough of.

Monday. Brand new day. I am somewhat feeling better, throat still feels B-A-D. Boy #2 has a well baby visit with the doc. The doc checks me for strep, negative, just a bad viral cold. I must suffer through it. Boy #2 is AWESOME. He is a whopping 16lbs and 24in long. I think we are working on a football player here folks. He got more shots and is right now asleep on my chest. He is such a trooper.

Kevin update: He is fine. Playing bingo and flying. He called me this morning from Kuwait. He was going to fly but the plane broke. He sounds good on the phone, just missing home as usual. We are almost at the 1 month mark! Only 3 more months to go.

Added bonus, this morning Dan Patrick said the Sox were the best team in baseball. God bless the man. I had to throw that in for my sis-in-law. She has been brainwashed into pulling for the dark side, the yanks. Someday she will see the error of her ways! :)

Have a great week everyone!!

Mother Nature

I love this time of year. It is a tolerable temperature in Charleston. Fun to be had outside before the untolerable, can't take a breath, high humidity scorcher days arrive. For several weeks now I have noticed a bird fly out of one of the ferns on my porch. It struck me as odd, until a friend of mine mentioned that she had birds roost in her ferns before. So, I took down the fern and there it was. A small bird nest with little eggs. So sweet. Too bad I am moving and won't get to see the babies hatch. Yesterday I was standing at the door watching Noah's pool fill up and something caught my attention. I quickly grabbed my camera and got a quick shot of the parents to be. Daddy has the red on him and Momma is sitting down in the fern. You can really only see her head. Sorry the pic is dark, I couldn's use a flash and this was taken through the glass door. They never flew too far from the nest. Just to a neighboring tree in my yard and back. I must have stood there for 30-45 min. Then it hit me that I was bird watching. Something I thought only retired 80-year-olds do. Anyway, I loved seeing this circle of life and I thought about Kevin and I and our boys.










These are my mother's day flowers sent by my hubby-bub. Just love him. Yellow tulips were my fav. Then a friend gave me pink ones and I thought pink were my fav. Now, I got these white ones, and I think I might be totally in love. Heck, I think, give me a tulip of any color and I will squeal with delight!







This little bouquet here was given to me by my boys. There is just something about a little 2.5-year-old holding out flowers and saying "Happy Mother's Day, I wuv you" that transforms this ordinary bouquet into the most beautiful bouquet I have ever gotten {2nd of course to my hubby's! :)} Every day is sweeter and sweeter with my sons. How God has blessed me so richly by letting me have this borrowed time with them.


Ok, rambling and pic posting done. I think I like this blogging thing more than I ever thought I would.

And, if there are any Idol watchers out there.......I am so bummed about Lakeisha. The effects of her being voted off are still with me. However, Blake is still bringing it strong. So, I still have hope. I can't wait to see what happens this week!!!! Go Blake!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!

Happy Birthday babe! I wish me and the boys could be with you to celebrate. I hope we get to spend many more together! Here's to you!

The Dirt

Kevin by his plane

Looking at the runway thru the HUD

Kevin in front of the air field sign

Here are some pics sent straight from the desert. This is what he did today. He landed his C-17 on a dirt runway, it looks like in Afghanistan. He is the first in his squadron to do this. Isn't he just awesome! Yes, it freaks me out that he is wearing a bullet proof vest with a smile on his face, but at least I got some pictures! Great job babe!

Egg in the face

It's been one of those days. Everything is going fine, but you have that feeling that things aren't quite right. The day was great until about 3:30 and it started with the trip to Staples. Everything went fine in the store it is what happened outside that started the whole day going downhill like a snowball at warp speed. I was lifting Caleb and his carrier in the car to snap into the base. I've done this a zillion times. Instead of the car seat snapping in, my back decided to snap. I get this huge pain in my back and I am hoping it is just a quick spasm, nothing I can't deal with. So, I am in the car and it is hurting to sit down! Oh great. So, I drive home. My spine feels like it is going to snap every time I stand up or sit down. I get home and here go the phones. I am on the home phone, cell phone rings - sorry I have to go my other phone is ringing., now the home phone rings again, - gotta let you go it may be Kevin. Wrong. Cell phone is ringing yet again. The whole time Noah is wanting attention and if he doesn't get it willfully, he is going to find a way to get it. Caleb decides this is the precise time to begin a wailing match with his brother in order to see who is going to get mommy attention. My back is killing me and I am about to chunk all the phones out the window. I get out the heating pad, Noah please give mommy 10 minutes, I'll put on a cartoon. He is quiet for the moment. I decide to nurse Caleb to get him quiet and let the heat pad do its magic. Noah gets restless decides to leave. Oh great, I know something big is going to happen cause the cartoon is not the attention he is wanting. Caleb's asleep, aleve has kicked in, back is somewhat tolerable. Where is Noah? Oh, there he is on the couch in the living room, whew. Things are calming down, the snowball had slowed its pace until I see the kitchen. The kitchen has now become a place of utter destruction. The cartoon was not enough for Noah but a carton of eggs was. Oh yes, my 2.5 yr old hurricane thought a carton of eggs would be great for throwing around in the kitchen. The cabinets, floors, walls, and refrigerator was painted in a nice yellow/orange slime. The snowball is now on a steep downward slope going mach 10. I just finished cleaning up the eggs. Forgot to take a picture of the mess for the scrapbook, and sent Noah to his room to think about things (I just laughed at that last sentence). If I can only get through dinner. How many more days? 110, I think. Well, I guess that beats 120.

The Funny Story

Ok, now that I have a minute....................

Wednesday night I am getting ready for church and the doorbell rings. Weird, I am not expecting anyone. So this dude is on my porch and I step out and say "Can I help you?" He replies, (are you ready for this??!!) "Is your mom or dad at home?" I almost laughed out loud in this man's face! I could not help myself and giggled somewhat, to which I replied "No, they are not, is there something I can help you with?" You should have seen the look of this guy's face as I am standing there hand over my mouth somewhat giggling trying to keep my composure. Well, he wanted to know about the house and such to which I politely tell him to call my realtor. His look then became even more confused when he figured out I was the homeowner! I almost peed my pants at the look on this man's face. I had to apologize! He wanted a personal viewing - very bizarre and scary! Once again I refer him to the big sign in the yard and send him on his way. But hey, what can I say. It was the cherry on my ice cream Wednesday. I wake up in the morning sell my home, and then get a big compliment in a somewhat weird way. I'll take 'em where I can get 'em. Ahh life is good, for now anyway!

God is AWESOME

ok, well you are never going to believe this one. The house sold yesterday! YEAH!!! Here is the long story, I hope you are ready!

Sunday I get a call that someone wants to look at the house....Yippee! So, they come. My previous blog tells of my pathetic plan to hide tape recorders in the house! No need, these folks come back for round #2. That's right. Tuesday I get a call saying they want to come back to look at the house again. Bigger YIPPEE! So Kevin calls I fill him in and he said he will be able to call back in a couple of days to find out what happens. I start to pray immediately. I was asking God that if at all possible let these folks make an offer on the house. So, the appointed time for the showing comes and goes. I am dying for some feedback from the folks about what they thought about the house. 8:15pm rolls around, our realtor calls, an offer has been put in. Let the negotiations begin, right after I give a huge high-five to God. The initial offer is way low, we counter, and the waiting game begins. I am so excited about the offer, how good God is about answering prayers when your heart needs the answer. I want to tell Kevin so bad, again I bow my head and pray, "God please put it on Kevin's heart to call home". Less than 2 hours later the phone rings and it's Kevin. WHOA! I felt like God was sitting beside me. I fill Kevin in, he agrees on the negotiating strategy. Now the real waiting begins - waiting on the reply from the potential buyers. All night long I pray for the buyers to make the right decision, that if they are going to buy they make an offer of $173K. I also pray for a release from my anxiety. Wednesday morning, sun comes up. I am so anxious, I start to pray again. I wanted this off my mind. Kevin was able to make an early morning call of ecouragement. How blessed I am that Kev is the one God chose for me. He is thousands of miles away fighting a war and he can find a phone to send me a call of encouragement. Praise God. Close to noon or slightly thereafter, the realtor calls. My ears are perked up like a labrador waiting on the command to fetch. He says, they have taken the offer at $177k but you pay $4k in closing costs, so you are selling for $173k. WHAT! I can't believe my ears! God once again, immediately answered a prayer. So, I accept the offer. I scream a little, do a happy dance and Noah immediately joins in. I dash up the stairs and hit the email to Kev. Once again, as I type I am praying God let Kevin check his email before he takes off for bed. About an hour later, maybe not that long, but anyway, Kevin calls. He is thrilled. He said he was on his way to bed and thought, maybe he should check his email one more time just in case. How wonderful is God??!! I went to the realtor's office yesterday and signed the contract. Closing is set for June 28th. For the whole day yesterday I am praising my God, the one who knows my heart. The one who heard mine and my husband's pleas to sell this house quickly and to relieve us of this burden so we can move to Alaska smoothly. The Israelites always changed God's name for His miracles that He did for them, so they could remember that time of God's blessing. So, I have chosen The God of Answered Prayer. If I ever pray in the future and don't get an answer quickly, I want to remember this time where it seemed that God was standing right beside me for 2 days, and know that He is listening and gives me His will according to His time. Before this, I can't remember a time He has answered my prayers so immediate. My God is so good, I praise His wonder and love.

I have a funny story, but that is too much to type right now. I have more home showings today.
I hope everyone who reads this gets to experience God in some way where you have no doubt that it is Him beside you, leading you, and providing for you. And when it happens, give it back to Him in praise and love and by abiding to His will. He is an awesome God!